"You do not do anything with such people, you fight them." Bavaria's prime minister and CSU leader Markus Söder demanded a clear demarcation from the AFD at the congress of the sister party. For him, the party is not just an enemy, but an "enemy.
The AfD represents a completely different view of the world: "They do not want to go back to the seventies, they want to go back to the 1930s," said Söder. He strongly warned the Union not to cooperate with the AfD or to copy its positions. This would result in "substantial losses of substance in the middle of the middle classes".
Mockery for the SPD, praise for the Greens
Söder also went to court with the coalition partner: "At the SPD you can almost feel the permanent depression," he mocked in his greeting. "Do you invite somebody to your house, who is known to whine all evening?"
The greens remained. In principle, he could imagine cooperation with them, but in elections they are currently the main competitor for the Union. It was the task of the Union to make it clear that the Greens made "no bourgeois offer", but "tough" oriented to the left, as could be seen after the recent election in Bremen. The aim of the Union must be to prevent the Greens from becoming the strongest party.
Nevertheless, the Union could learn from the Greens how to inspire people. In this regard, the Greens currently "not a bad show". In spite of all differences in content, the Union could orientate itself towards this: if there is an issue of optimism, the Union must once again recommend itself to the citizens as a "first address" and leave internal strife behind.
You want to answer the Sunday question for the covenant? Vote here:
On the CDU chief Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer - who had asked the day before the power question and offered their retreat - Söder was hardly in his speech. He just said, "Annegret is doing a great job as Secretary of Defense."
For his approximately 40-minute appearance Söder got much and long applause. The CDU boss thanked Söder then that the sister parties had resolved their disputes in recent years. The ovations for Söder described her as "deserving". Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther spoke of a "cool performance" of the CSU chief.
